"Confessions of an Intact Teen "

I woke up this morning to a great blog article by the wonderful Guggie Daly.  Her 13 year old brother speaks out against circumcision.  Out of the mouths of babes.... comes clear logic and rational thinking!!!

Confessions of an Intact Teen

LK is Guggie's 13 year old intact brother.

"So I've heard of circumcision before. Something about cutting the penis skin. Sounds horrible. But today Guggie showed me a video of it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDuDhkiDdns.

It made me sick to my stomach. I can't believe the doctor did that to a baby. I can't believe people like that are allowed to walk free after torturing a baby on their most sensitive spot. Why did the dad just sit there? Why didn't the dad hit the doctor, push him away, grab his baby and run?

I wish they could make a machine where they take the doctor's mind and put him in a baby getting tortured and make the doctor feel it and remember it forever.....








...I want parents to know that penis skin is part of the penis! And penis skin protects the penis! It protected mine! To the dads: if anyone ever tells you to cut your son's penis, grab your son and run away! Don't be like the dad in the video."

~LK

Click HERE to read the entire article by a very smart 13 year old boy!!!

"50 Reasons to leave it alone!"

Another excellent article about leaving our babies penises intact, or "Natural"!!!  All 50 reasons are important reminders that we as parents don't have the Right to modify our childrens bodies, that babies are born with a foreskin for a reason.  If a grown man decides to amputate his foreskin that is a choice he can make for himself. Although, unlike other forms of body modification, circumcision is permanent. Something that a good friend of mine discovered for himself....and now sincerely regrets.  I will be writing about my friend experience in the very near future, but for the moment just remember: Babies are born with 10 fingers, 10 toes, adorable chubby cheeks, cute little button noses...and little boys have perfect penises, so leave it ALONE.

50 Reasons to Leave It Alone

Your son's penis, that is.

DaVinci's "Vitruvian Man" - Did you ever notice that he has his whole penis?

I know, talking about baby penises seems like a strange choice for a blog post.  I used to think that penises came in two varieties, circumcised and uncircumcised....but education is a powerful thing.  Now, I know that they only come in one style - Natural - and we, as parents, choose to alter what God or Nature or Evolution or The Great Spaghetti Monster created.


Why am I calling "uncircumcised" penises "natural"?  Most of the "intactivist" culture uses the word "Intact", which is also accurate, but really, an uncircumcised penis is exactly that - natural.  

Just like women without breast implants have "natural" boobs, or a person has their "natural" nose before a nose job.   It's the way nature made it - therefore, a natural penis.  Does that mean a circumcised penis is unnatural?  Yes, it does.  

I do want to note that I'm not anti-circumcision.  If an adult man wants to modify his body, that is his choice and I support it - just as I would support a woman who wanted labiaplasty, or anyone who wanted to stretch their earlobes or tattoo their body.  I am opposed to the routine circumcision of infants for non-medical reasons.



So, here are 50 reasons to leave your son's penis alone and not let a doctor cut it up.


1.) It's his.

2.) I've never met a man who wanted "less" penis when he was old enough to care.  Men tend to like their penises just the way they are.

3.) You can change your mind.  It's not possible to "un-circumcise", although there are men who have chosen to restore their foreskin later in life.  If you're not sure, don't decide at all.   It's a non-decision.  :)

4.) There is no medical reason to do it routinely.

5.) Circumcision isn't the majority for newborns anymore.  According to the New York Times, the infant circumcision rate is down to 32%.  That means 68% of your son's locker room will likely have natural penises.  If you circumcise, he will probably ask you why he's different from his buddies.

6.) Natural penises are easier to take care of during the diaper-changing years.  Just wipe it like a finger.  No retracting, no mess or fuss.  Compare that to having to care for an open wound in a diaper.

7.) You wouldn't cut your baby girl's genitals.  In fact, it's illegal - even a "nick" is illegal.  Male circumcision is a lot more involved than a nick!

8.) Many doctors and nurses refuse to perform the procedure because it violates the Hippocratic Oath - First, Do No Harm.

9.) It hurts.  A lot.  Really.  Don't believe me?  Watch a video.  With the sound up, please.  If you can't watch the whole thing, can you really ask your newborn to go through it?

10.) Babies can't be properly anesthetized.  An older child or adult would be given anesthesia and strong pain medication after any kind of operation, especially one on their genitals.  Babies can't have proper pain medication.

11.) Did you know?  Infant circumcision rates are less than 10% in the following counties: England, France, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, all of South and Central America, Japan, China, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Greece, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia and more.

Infant circumcision rates are higher than 10% in the following countries: USA, Israel, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon,  Yemen, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan, Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo, Eritrea, and Kenya. 

12.) Men with natural penises are less likely to experience Erectile Dysfunction as they age.  Translation - your son will be less likely to need Viagra when he's 55.

13.) Female sexual partners of men with natural penises are more likely to achieve orgasm during sexual intercourse.  They are also less likely to need lubricant.

14.) There are over 20,000 nerve endings in the foreskin.  That's more than in the female clitoris.

15.) The foreskin protects the head of the penis.


16.) The foreskin provides lubrication during sexual intercourse.  Men with natural penises are less likely to use lubrication during sex or masturbation (hey, THAT's why my brothers were always stealing my conditioner!)

17.) No major medical organization on earth recommends routine circumcision of infants.

18.) It's easy to clean when he's older.  Shower.   Besides, by the time his foreskin is retractable, (average age, 10.4 years old), you will no longer be cleaning his penis.  I hope.

19.) Circumcision does not prevent AIDS, or any other STD. Condoms do.  Having sex with one, monogamous partner and avoiding IV drug use prevents AIDS.  Why would you assume your baby's going to be a man-whore anyway?

20.) We don't chop off ears to prevent ear infections.  We don't remove baby toenails to prevent fungal infections.  We don't cut off legs anymore when a wound becomes infected.  In the very unlikely event your son does develop an infection, we have antibiotics. 

To read the entire article and remaining 30 Reasons to leave it alone, click HERE

"The Most Twisted Logic in the World"

One of the most well laid out articles I've read that analyses the ridiculousness of male circumcision and the twisted logic that has grown up to support this horrific practice. Any of my readers in areas of the world out side the US (and Canada to some extent) will no doubt be horrified by the fact that North American parents fall prey to this mangled logic daily, allowing their newborn boys to be put to the knife within hours of birth without giving even a seconds thought to what they are about to have done to their babies.  What is sadder is the fact that almost daily I hear from parents that doctors and medical staff are harassing new parents, assailing them on all sides with moments of birthing a baby boy, trying to convince them to amputate part of their sons penis with these ridiculous pieces of twisted logic.  It is bad enough when parents convince themselves of the necessity of this amputation, as I outlined in "5 Reasons Parents Give for Choosing Circumcision, and Why Those Reasons are not Valid ",  but when the medical practitioners who have vowed to honour the Hippocratic oath to "Do No Harm" actually bully uninformed parents into this horrific procedure against all recommendations of every medical association in the world....?!

ENOUGH ALL READY!

It is up to parents to do their own research because unfortunately we can not rely on the medical machine to give us recommendations and opinions that are based on Actual logic and established medical studies.

....and isn't that a sad statement about the condition of our society in general?

Circumcision: The Most Twisted Logic in the World

By Clara Franco
This article was translated by the author and edited for DrMomma.org. It is available in Spanish here.

Let’s imagine for a moment the following series of situations at the doctor’s office.


Scenario 1:

-You: Doctor, now that my baby is crawling, his fingernails get SO filthy - full of dirt! Besides, it’s hard to cut them; it is so much trouble and takes so much time. Because of the dirt and bacteria getting under his nails, and then into his nose and mouth, he’s sick all the time and getting infections. What can I do?

-Doctor: Ma’am, the best solution would be to immediately schedule an appointment to cut your baby’s fingertips off. A solution to last a lifetime!

-You: What?! How can you even think I would cut off my son’s fingertips?

-Doctor: But this is very normal. Lots of moms do it now. It’s harmless, really! We only cut a little piece at the tip of the finger, a very small bit. Only the part where the nail begins to grow. His hands really work exactly the same; but you’ll spare yourself of the trouble of cleaning his nails and trimming them - forever! You won’t even need to teach him how to wash his nails when he grows up.

-You: But doesn’t that hurt?

-Doctor: Absolutely not. Babies this age cannot yet feel pain, and even if they did, they won’t remember it.

Scenario 2:

-Doctor: It’s a girl! Mrs. X, I must remind you that your health care plan will cover the expenses in case you want to perform a radical mastectomy on your baby. The sooner, the better.

-You: A what?

-Doctor: You know, to completely remove her mammary glands. Breast cancer is now the second cause of death in Mexico for women over 25, and it’s more common every day! If we do the procedure on your daughter, you’ll forever forget about that risk. You could save her life! It’s better now that she’s a baby and she won’t remember. No cancer for her - ever! It’s becoming routine to do it when they’re this young. Remember, if you choose not to get the surgery, there’s still a 1 in 10 chance that she will have cancer and need the procedure anyway. Her mammary glands really do nothing but put her at deadly risk.

Scenario 3:

-Doctor: It’s a boy! So ma’am, we’re going for the appendectomy, right?

-You: Well, do you recommend it, doctor?

-Doctor: Absolutely. Look, more or less, four in every fifty children will have appendicitis at some point in their lives. And then it is a problem because if they don’t have the surgery immediately, they may die from peritonitis or septic shock. Now many parents choose to have the surgery done right after birth, and do away with the problem forever! We’ll remove it now, and spare ourselves from a scare when he’s older.

-You: But you’ll use anesthesia, right?

-Doctor: Oh no, that’s dangerous in newborns! We don’t apply anesthesia because then it would be a high-risk intervention. Besides, what’s the point? He’s so small and he can’t feel pain yet. He won’t even remember when he grows up.....

...Something very similar has happened to our country’s medical establishment. We’ve ended up seeing this amputation (only this one, and exclusively this one), as something normal, desirable, "decidable by parents," aesthetic, hygienic, healthy. This is the only little loophole where no one seems to remember the Hippocratic Oath, or the need to use amputation only as a very last resort in rare and severe cases. We have conceded this amputation a sort of respect that it does not deserve. We have placed it into its own category within medical practice. (Look in many Healthcare Insurance Plans pamphlets: male circumcision really does have its own chapter).

The case becomes shamelessly lunatic when we realize that, today, many studies have been conducted concerning HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases which seek to legitimize the practice of male genital amputation on healthy individuals. These studies hold amputation as a starting point, and not the illness itself. How did we ever let this happen? What other medical study has ever started from the premise of amputation, and then tried to prove its use for something? To first push for genital mutilation, and then attempt to prove it to be good disease prevention.

Let’s imagine that an orthopedic surgeon performs a similar study:

“Medical research conducted by Doctor A. Smith, using experimental samples of individuals from Tanzania, has concluded that foot amputation definitely bears a positive effect in the prevention of various diseases and conditions; such as foot fractures, athlete’s foot and other kinds of fungi, ingrown toenails, and foot wound infections. When performed on newborns, amputation can also completely prevent accidents concerning “hair tourniquets,” a dangerous condition that happens when a hair or fine thread gets wrapped strongly around a toe, cutting blood supply. Out of 1,000 analyzed individuals, those who had feet amputations performed had a 95% lower chance of presenting ANY of these conditions, diseases and accidents!”

Doctor A. Smith is not lying. Amputating body parts does keep us from potentially having any trouble with those parts later. Because if we amputate, these organs or limbs no longer exist. Just as killing my neighbors would help me avoid any trouble with them in the future...

HERE to read the entire article on Peaceful Parenting

"Why all the Circumcision Posts?"

"Why all the Circumcision Posts?" is a wonderful article written by Audrey Bryk, a US military mom based in Germany.   Audry writes about her journey to being an intactivist and puts in simple terms the reason why Circumcision is unnecessary surgery and why it's wrong- on so many levels!  Good for you Mama!!!

Why All the Circumcision Posts?!

By Audrey Bryk

my perfectly intact son

I bet a few (most?) of my friends on Facebook have had the thought that I am off my damn rocker for posting about circumcision lately. Honestly, a few years ago I would have thought the same thing. I never, ever, EVER thought that this would be something I would care so deeply about.

Admittedly, I didn’t do enough research before Colin was born in Arizona in 2007. I had read a few mainstream “pro & con” articles, and some of the pediatricians I interviewed touched on it, but like most things (including his name!) we were wishy-washy before we checked into the hospital.

When I met him for the first time – the single most amazing wonderful spectacular mind-blowing event of my life – I was literally IN SHOCK about how perfect he was.

A little bit later, the pediatrician came into the room and said, “First thing's first: Are you going to have him circumcised?”

Really? THAT is the first thing? REALLY? It just seemed so ludicrous to me in the midst of my new-mommy glow. I looked down at him. He was just. so. perfect. “Um…no…we’re not doing that to him.” Not the welcome to the world I envisioned for this perfectly whole wonderful gentle peaceful little being in my arms.

Fast forward to a couple months ago at Reid’s 4 month check up here in Germany, where he was born (my second son). I hadn’t given a single thought to the whole thing until Dr. Schaffer took off his diaper and, with a look of surprise said, “Wow, you’re American and he’s intact. That’s great!”

At that moment it struck me as funny that I literally didn’t give it a thought this time around. It wasn’t offered at the hospital in Germany, and it wasn’t even mentioned by a soul until Reid was 4 months old here, but in the U.S. it is the "first" thing?

That sparked something in me, and I started doing some research that very night. One of the first things I read on an intactivist website was, “Circumcision: the more you learn about it, the more you’re against it.” That has held true for me as I have continued to read and research all these nights since....

HERE to read the entire article on Peaceful Parenting

Top 12 Myths about Circumcision

This is a must have article for all intactivists!!  Author Jen Coias covers every single angle, every myth ever perpetrated to convince parents that they should circumcise their son.  The article very clearly debunks each myth, and backs it up with several links and studies to make sure there can be no misunderstanding:

Male Circumcision is Wrong.

Top 12 Myths

Twelve Common Misconceptions About Circumcision and the Intact Male.

Please use the resources following each topic for more information.  I have also posted additional resources following this article.  I have spent a great deal of time and energy  in writing this, all in the name of LOVE.  

MYTH 1:  Circumcision protects boys from developing harmful medical problems.

TRUTH:  NO medical society in the entire world, including the USA, recommends routine infant circumcision.  Circumcision does NOT:

-prevent infections

-prevent or reduce the occurrence of urinary tract infections

-prevent penile cancer

-prevent transmission of the AIDs virus

-prevent the transmission of STDs

There are absolutely no proven medical benefits to circumcising infant boys routinely.  EVERY medical association in the entire world, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Medical Association (AMA), has made statements that routine infant circumcision provides no proven medical benefits and is a non-therapeutic operation with known risks and guaranteed consequences.  These risks and guaranteed consequences do not outweigh any potential benefits.  Infant circumcision is purely cosmetic and has been falsely justified as having “medical benefits” thanks to a history of flawed studies performed by doctors who have tried to justify the tradition for over a century.  In fact, circumcision has been fabled to protect against more illnesses than any other single surgical procedure; epilepsy, seizure, paralysis, polio, mental illness, cancer, you name it.  View the last link, a video about the “medicalization” of circumcision, for more information about this.  More recent studies have now proven that foreskin actually protects against UTI and other infections.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/1/t012000.asp 

http://www.cirp.org/library/statements/

http://www.nocirc.org/statements/breastfeeding.php

http://www.mothering.com/truth-about-circumcision-and-hiv

http://davidgisselquist.googlepages.com/chapter7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4unKTMpBGA

MYTH 2:   Having an intact boy means more work and extra cleaning to prevent infection.

TRUTH:  It is actually easier to care for an intact boy.  Only clean the exterior of an intact boy, a swish in the bath is sufficient.  People are severely misinformed about the anatomy of foreskin.  During the infant/childhood years the foreskin is fused to the head of the penis (glans) and the opening is only wide enough to allow for urine to pass through.   This protects the developing penis from urine, feces, and other harmful pathogens.  An intact boy should NEVER be retracted for cleaning or for any other reason.  Premature retraction causes tearing, pain, and can result in many complications, including infection.  The proper care for the intact penis is to LEAVE IT ALONE, only the exterior gets cleaned.  Should poop get on the penis, all you do is wipe it like a finger.  Throughout childhood the skin will slowly separate from the glans and the foreskin opening will widen.  Self-cleaning excretions prevent the need for cleaning during that time.  Through self-discovery a boy will learn to retract his own foreskin.  After retraction is possible a boy can easily clean himself with a quick rinse in the same way that girl cleans her privates.  It is a good rule of thumb to never let anyone touch your intact son’s penis.  Many people, including care providers, will ignorantly try to retract the foreskin.  Fact is, the US medical profession cut off so many foreskins in the past that the doctors rarely if ever saw an intact boy and have lost the base of knowledge of diagnosis and treatment.  Now, they are operating in a vacuum of information or even worse, in an environment of false information.  The only tool you need to care for an intact boy is a ruler to smack the hands of those curious people who attempt to retract his foreskin.  :)  Retraction happens at a different times for each boy.  Some boys do not retract until puberty, this is perfectly normal.

http://www.nocirc.org/publish/pamphlet4.html

http://www.nocirc.org/publish/pamphlet6.html

http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/aap/

http://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/peron1/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=367CR4EqyWo (video of intact care)

HERE to read the entire article